Questions and answers about Elixir:
How come you wrote a history of water and humans?
I learned a great deal about drought and stress on human societies at a global level during my research for The Great Warming. That’s a book about the Medieval Warm Period of about A.D. 800 to 1250, when global temperatures were somewhat warmer than they were later. A number of people who are concerned with water suggested that I write a sequel on the history of human relationships with water. So I did, a project that took three years.
What’s different about Elixir?
There are dozens of book about water in today’s world and about the looming crisis over water supplies. But almost none of them delve into the history of water before the Industrial Revolution or into how ancient societies viewed water. Elixir spans a period from about 10,000 years ago up to the Industrial Revolution, when we began deep pumping from subterranean aquifers, using fossil fuels. In the final analysis, it’s a book about gravity, the management of water that flows downhill. I found that careful management of water supplies had a profound effect on human history.
How did people think of water in the past?
Very different from how we do. We feel entitled to abundant water and expect it to appear when we turn on a faucet. Our forebears treated water with great respect, used it sparingly on the whole, and surrounded it with rituals. Water was the gift of spiritual forces and the deities associated with them.
Are there societies who still do this?
Oh yes, there are. The classic example is the rice farmers of Bali in Southeast Asia, who follow complex rituals as they parcel out water into their fields. Their rituals surround a volcanic lake that supplies water, and the distribution of holy water into their fields using centuries-old principles. This is a self-sustaining water management system that survived colonial rule and still thrives..
What was the greatest challenge in writing the book?
Treating the subject on a global level was a real challenge, partly because we know so little about ancient water management in many parts of the world. Also, the archaeology of water and irrigation tends to be very unspectacular, which makes writing about it interestingly extremely difficult.
Which water managers stand out in your mind?
The ancient Greeks were masters at providing water for their cities, using limestone formations. They provided prototypes for the Romans and their aqueducts. Some of the most impressive water managers were Islamic irrigation experts, who developed irrigation agriculture and the use of gravity in arid lands to a fine art.
What lessons can we learn from Elixir?
That water is a finite resource that we can no longer just pump out of the ground without thinking of the future, wherever we live. Conservation and major changes in our uses of water are essential for the future. This is very much a case where we can learn important lessons form the past. Remember, too, that there are millions of people without adequate fresh water supplies, many of them still relying on gravity and simply furrows for watering their fields—techniques that go back at least 10,000 years.
What book are you planning to write next?
Decoding the Ocean has been on the stocks for a long time. It’s a book about how different ancient societies figured out how to embark on the water and over the horizon. It’s not about shipwrecks and galleons, but about people and the sea. A fascinating adventure!
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